where to purchase 2010-2012 mac pro without cpu or ram?

[ibuyufo]

I am looking for a mac pro 5,1 and I'm wondering if it's possible to find a mac pro with just basically the motherboard, case, and video card?

 

[RoastingPig]

ebay is your only bet for that. plus the cpus arent really worth that much if there some of the entry level cpu's. And im assuming that a mac pro without a cpu would detract a whole bunch of bidders because they dont want a computer without a cpu and not having one will bring a whole bunch of questions on the machine, ending with a low sell price for the seller.

 

[ibuyufo]

Yeah I just want something reasonably inexpensive because I'm going to be in possession of 2 xeon hexacore westmere CPUs pretty soon. I figured I could just stick it in there and add ram to it and it would be ready to rock.
So far I haven't seen anything like that on eBay.

 

[CASLondon]

You aren't going to save any money looking for this unicorn. Just buy a stock base machine, on eBay or from a place like http://macofalltrades.com and go from there.

You don't get anything more than pocket money for the stock CPUs anyway.

You can eBay or find a server reseller/recycler for the ram and the CPUs, often at good prices

 

[Gav Mack]

I hunt regularly and have bought from clients towers minus their HDD's, for data protection I am happy with that and completely understandable. But less any more bits I would suspect strongly I'm being sold a 'pup' or a 'Jonah'.

Just buy the stock dual 2.26 or 2.4 or a 4,1 tested and flog any spare memory or Xeon's after.

 

[Verdenshersker]

I totally see what you are saying.
I kinda did the same as well.

I bought on Ebay for $830 incl. shipping:
Mac Pro 4.1
2 x 2.26 Ghz Quad Core
16 GB DDR3 1066 Mhz (4x4 GB)
GT120 512 MB GDDR3
250 GB 7200 RPM Samsung HDD
etc.

I have now spend a total of $1555 and my system looks like this now:

Mac Pro 5.1
2 x 2.93 Ghz Quad Core (X5570)
48 GB DDR3 1066 Mhz (4x4GB + 4x8GB)
GTX 570 2.5 GB GDDR5 + GT 120 512 MB GDDR3
Intel SSD X25M 160 GB SSD (OSX, Applications)
1 TB WD Green (Storage)
250 GB 7200 RPM Samsung HDD (Windows for Bootcamp)
CrossOver 290M 29 Inch IPS (2560x1080) Monitor
Wireless Apple Keyboard
Wireless Apple Mouse

I feel like I've got a lot of computer for a total of $1555...

Most expensive upgrades was for sure the Monitor and extra 32 GB memory...

But good luck!

 

[ibuyufo]

Holy cow! That's not what I want to spend! Do you really need that much ram?

I totally see what you are saying.
I kinda did the same as well.

I bought on Ebay for $830 incl. shipping:
Mac Pro 4.1
2 x 2.26 Ghz Quad Core
16 GB DDR3 1066 Mhz (4x4 GB)
GT120 512 MB GDDR3
250 GB 7200 RPM Samsung HDD
etc.

I have now spend a total of $1555 and my system looks like this now:

Mac Pro 5.1
2 x 2.93 Ghz Quad Core (X5570)
48 GB DDR3 1066 Mhz (4x4GB + 4x8GB)
GTX 570 2.5 GB GDDR5 + GT 120 512 MB GDDR3
Intel SSD X25M 160 GB SSD (OSX, Applications)
1 TB WD Green (Storage)
250 GB 7200 RPM Samsung HDD (Windows for Bootcamp)
CrossOver 290M 29 Inch IPS (2560x1080) Monitor
Wireless Apple Keyboard
Wireless Apple Mouse

I feel like I've got a lot of computer for a total of $1555...

Most expensive upgrades was for sure the Monitor and extra 32 GB memory...

But good luck!

 

[Verdenshersker]

Well what are you thinking about spending?

I mean, what are you gonna use it for and what would you expect to buy it for?

I don't think I did really bad deals compared to what is in it

Edit: and yes, I'm a designer, so I need the memory especially for Photoshop instead of using the scratch disc...

 

[Macsonic]

Yeah I just want something reasonably inexpensive because I'm going to be in possession of 2 xeon hexacore westmere CPUs pretty soon. I figured I could just stick it in there and add ram to it and it would be ready to rock.
So far I haven't seen anything like that on eBay.

You can do an inquiry on some sellers if you can just get the Mac Pro without the CPU and ram even though it's not specified in the listing. You best choices would be from sellers who sell Mac Pros as a business as they may have spare units. No harm in asking.

 

[Verdenshersker]

Holy cow! That's not what I want to spend! Do you really need that much ram?

Let me know how it goes with finding all the stuff you'll need.

 

[ibuyufo]

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. I kinda gave up on the idea of getting a barebones mac pro since it's way beyond what I had in mind and settled on a dell precision T5500 for $250. Can't beat that with a stick and I realize I won't be running osx unfortunately. At least I still have my macbook 13